BELLE — Since OutKast Sports requested to be annexed into the city on Feb. 13, Mayor Pro Tem James (Pudd) Mitchell has worked to find a way to make the request a possibility.

“I met with a property owner and he is going to anenx a part of his property in that touches the OutKast property,” Mitchell said during a March 13 phone call. “As long as a parcel of land is touching OutKast land then it can be annexed in.”

Mitchell previously thought the new sports complex didn’t have to be touching city property during the first public hearing on Feb. 13, but after doing some research, he realized the city would have to do some leg work to make the request happen.

“I met with the property owner and that is what we come up with to help us out,” Mitchell said.

Due to requirements to first advertise and then hold a public hearing, city treasurer Charro Reasor advertised in the March 27 and April 3 newspapers for the 6 p.m. hearing on April 10 at the Lonnie Feeler Memorial Building.

According to the meeting notice, the board is inviting the public to voice any objections to annexing a strip of land into the city limits that would connect OutKast Sports into the city limits.

“At this public hearing any interested person, corporation, or political subdivision may present evidence regarding the proposed annexation. Furthermore, any objections to the proposed annexation should be filed, in writing, with the board of aldermen of the city of Belle not later than 14 days after the date of the said public hearing,” the notice read.

The board passed the first reading to annex in OutKast Sports Complex on Feb. 13 with intents to pass the second reading during the March 13 meeting. However, without the public notice and annexation of the property that touches the city and connects to the complex, the annexation wouldn’t have been legal. Mitchell requested aldermen table the second reading of Ordinance 630, Annexing of OutKast Property, until the April 10 meeting.

If the new property is annexed on April 10, it is likely the board will have to wait to approve ordinance 630 until the May meeting.

“The annexation will come up again at the next meeting,” Mitchell said. “We have a second reading. We can’t vote on it yet because the piece of ground that is going to be annexed hasn’t been. Hopefully we will have a hearing at the next council meeting with all the legal descriptions. It probably will have to be the first of May to do the second reading.”